Art of ornamented knitted article manufacture



Nov. 2, 1948. E. F. wlRTz ART OF ORNAMENTED KNITTED ARTICLE MANUFACTURE Nqv. 2, 1948. E. F. wlR'rz 2,452,707

ART OF ORNAMENTED KNITTED ARTICLE MANUFACTURE Filed oct. zo; 194e 2 sheets-sheet 2 IN V EN TOR.

Patented Nov. 2, 1948 ART OF ORNAMEN TED KNITTED ARTICLE MANUFACTURE Emery F.

Wirtz, Appleton, Wis.,

assignor 1.0

Zwickel' Knitting Mills, Appleton, Wis., a corporation of Wisconsin Application October 30, 1946, Serial N0. 706,569

(Cl. (i6- 169) 4 Claims.

This invention relates to improvements in the art of ornamented knitted article manufacture, and more particularly to knitted articles of wearing apparel having incorporated therein, entirely through machine-applied knitting, design configurations and areas simulating cable stitch-ing, and to the method of producing the same.

So-called cable stitching, because of its distinctive and attractive appearance, is a popular form of stitching incorporated in such forms of Wearing apparel as knit mittens, gloves, scarves, socks and the like. Generally speaking, knitted articles incorporating cable stitching areas have heretofore been mainly produced through hand knitting methods With the result that the production of such articles is slow and expensive.

With the above in mind` it is, therefore, a general object of the present invention to provide for the expeditious, inexpensive commercial production of knitted articles having areas or extents of knitting therein in which all of the knitting operations are accomplished entirely by machine knitting, with certain areas or extents in the finished articles having a distinctive appearance which will generally simulate cable stitching.

A further object of the inventtion is Ito provide for the production of knitted articles of Wearing apparel wherein machine produced mock cable stitching is, in the finished knitted fabric, so interlocked with strands of the body fabric that the extents or areas of mock cable stitching are permanent and have an embossed or ribbed appearance.

A further object of the invention is to provide an ornamented knitted article of the character r described and method of producing the same wherein machine incorporated mock cable stitching is completely fashioned into and intermeshed with the knitted fabric proper in a manner so that it is enduring in character and outstanding in appearance regardless of whether it is produced with the same weight and color of yarn used in the fabric proper or with yarn of a color and type which contrasts with that of the body fabric.

While my co-pending application, Serial No. 689,927, filed August 12, 1946, now Pat/ent No. 427,891, aims at the production of knitted artil` es incorporating so-called mock cable stitching areas therein, with such mock stitching being effected mainly through machine knitting operations, .there is nevertheless agathering step required in the production of articles according to said vco--pending application which requires the hand securement of certaingathering strand'scr fil) threads passed through the mock cable stitched areas, Any hand operations, of course, tend to slow up production and increase the cost of the finished articles and to eliminate the required hand operations of the method of my co-pending appli-cation, the present improvements effect all of the knitting operations including the formation or" the 'so-called mock stitching areas entirely by machine, resulting in an article which may be produced more inexpensively than that of said co-pending application.

With the foregoing in mind, it is an object of the present invention to provide an ornamented knitted arti-cle of the character described and method of producing the same wherein the mock cable eect is produced by Jacquard machine knitting wherein, in the mock cable stitched areas, certain elastic threads or strands are machine knit with other strands in a manner to associa-te such elastic strands with marginal knitting along the area which is to provide lthe mock cable stitching with the result that the contraction afforded by such elastic strands bunches the areas thereadjacent to produce in 4the finished article embossed or outstanding knit areas which simulate mock cable stitching.

v A further object of the invention is to provide a knitted article having mock cable stitching areas therein which are entirely machine fashioned, and the method of producing the same, which is simple, inexpensive and commercially expeditious, and which is well adapted for .the purposes described.

With the above and other objects in view, the invention consists of the improved knitted article and method of producing the same, and the parts, combinations and steps as set forth in the claims and all equivalents thereof.

ln the accompanying drawings, in which the same reference characters indicate the same parts in all of the views:

Fig. l is a rear View of the outside of a knitted mitten having incorporated therein machine-applied. areas simulating mock stitching;

Fig. 2 is a fragmentary view, slightly enlarged,

of the inner surface of that portion of the knitted article in which an extent of mock cable stitching is incorporated;

Fig. 3 is a sectional view taken on line 3-3 of Fig. 2;

` Fig. 4 is a fragmentary sectional view of the outer layer of the mitten fabric taken on line llof Fig. l; and

Fig. 5 is a patternv diagram; for an extent of knitted fab-ric shown in Figs. 1 and 2 incorporating therein ornamented areas.

The knitted fabric constructed according to the present invention is preferably of tubular seamless formation and is knit on a Brinton opentop machine. The knitted fabric and method is applicable to many ty-pes of articles, as for instance, mittens, gloves, scarves, socks, or other items of wearing apparel. The improved method of knitting the article fabric with the so-called mock cable stitched areas therein is subject to ordinary variations of machine operation, depending upon the character of the stitches formed, type 4of yarn, and the size and extent of the incorporated areas of mock cable stitching.

In the present'exemplication, the invention has been shown as being incorporated into a knitted mitten, but obviously the invention is not to be limited to this precise form of article. However, in the manufacture of a mitten according to the improved method, the knitting operations are accomplished circularly and in respect to an individual mitten, the part first knit is the wrist portion 3 which is accomplished with any of the conventional types of machine knitting particularly desirable for said portion. Upon completion of the Wrist portion of the mitten, thegmachine proceeds with the knitting of the body or ground fabric or portion 9. The body, other than in the area of the mock cable stitching, is knit in a stitch of the type shown, and there may be incorporated therein, according to any predetermined pattern, arrowhead-simulating stitches I9 or irregular lines of such stitches I I with the yarn of the pattern-forming stitches Il) and Ii being preferably contrasting in color from that of the body fabric In the present exemplication, merely by way of illustration and to emphasize the certain areas and patterns as will be apparent from Fig. 5, the body fabric 9 is shown as being formed of brown yarn and the pattern stitches ID and II are of contrasting yellow yarn.

'Ihe pattern diagram illustrated in Fig. 5 will be referred to more fully hereinafter in order to expain the manner in which the mock cable stitched areas are effected. However, at this point it might be noted that the Brinton machine utilived operates in this particular instance with three selections of needles, one selection of the same carrying the brown strands, a second selection of needles carrying the yellow strands, and a third selection of needles carrying elastic strands I2.

During the procedure of knitting the body portion S. at the pro-per points in the circular operation, the machine operates to knit spiraling areas I3 (see Fig. l) which are of yellow yarn and which produce the visual effect of being in intertwined relation. Knit within said interwined areas I3 there may be design forming local areas I4 of brown stitching to contrast with the yellow background.

Without the incorporation of one of the essential :features of the present invention, i, e., elastic strands l2, the intertwined extents I3 would lie flatly in the plane of the body fabric S and would not present an embossed or outstanding effect, with the result that the esthetic effect of said extents I3 would be dependent entirely upon contrasting yarn utilized therein. However, to accomplish an embossed effect which is characteristic of cable stitching, elastic threads or strands I2 are utiliz^d in the manner best shown in Figs. 2 and 3. Said elastic strands [2 are presented, as before observed, by a third selection 0f the machine needles. These elastic strands I2 are knit into the composite fabric only along the side margins o-f the intertwining areas i3 and are floated across the inner faces of said areas. The result is that the inherent elasticity of such strands I2 causes, in the completed article, a contraction or bunching effect on the margins of the areas I3 whereby the intermediate portions of the extents i3, under the influence of the elastic strands I2 bulge or bunch outwardly to produce the embossed effect, which in the finished article has the visual effect of cabling or intertwined strands.

AS the machine continues to knit circularly, utimately the complete article of Fig. 1 is produced and the embossed extents I3, which appear to be in intertwined relation, extend longitudinally of the back of the mitten, although this precise arrangement is optional and such areas may be lproduced in any desired portion of the knitted fabric.

It is, of course, understood that when the mitten is completed insofar as the machine operations are concerned, it is subjected to steaming and blocking, as is conventional, and the finished product has the appearance depicted in Fig. 1 wherein the intertwined areas I3 are embossed or bunched relative to the body fabric 9 and to all intents and purposes, one curved extent appears to pass alternately over and under the other extent to simulate genuine cable stitching. As will be observed fro-m Figs. 2, 3 and 4, the ground fabric strands are floated under the intertwining extents i3 except where they are knit in to form the contrasting pattern stitches I4. On the other hand, the strands which are knit to provide the extents I3 are floated under the stitches of the ground fabric 9 with such floats being designated by the numeral I3'. However, in the ground fabric the strands I3 are knit in to form the pattern stitches il. From Figs. 2 and 4 the relation of the elastic strands I2 will clearly appear with the same being knit in along the outer margins of the extents I3 but floating under the latter, transversely.

For a better understanding of the precise knitting operations as accomplished by the machine to produce the present improved fabric and functioning according to the improved method, a pattern diagram is illustrated in Fig. 5, for the production of that portion of the rear of the mitten which includes the intertwining extents i3 and the adjacent decorated ground fabric 9.

According to said pattern diagram the selection of needles carrying the strands for the ground fabric S (brown in the disclosed embodiment) knit in each course in the white squares or areas E@ and also in the cross-hatched areas 2i and fioat in the X squares and in the marked areas 22 wherein the needles carrying the yellow strands knit the pattern stitches or the X areas. The areas in the pattern diagram which are crosshatc'hed, as at 2i, indicate the knitting of the ground fabric strands (brown) with the elastic strands I2. Because of the eccentricity of the main ornamented area it is also necessary that in certain of the courses the needles carrying the elastic strands I2 knit the elastic strands I2 alone in the areas 22, cross-hatched to indicate where this occurs. summarizing, therefore, as to the operation of the machine, it may be stated that the needles of the number 'one feed (brown yarn) knit ineach course in the white squares 20 V and the cross-hatched areas 2i. The needles of the number two feed (yellow yarn) knit in the X squares and the needles of the number three feed, which carry the elastic strands i2, knit in the areas 2|, as Well as in the areas 22. In the finished fabric it will, therefore, be found that with respect to the intertwining extents i3 (Fig. 1) the elastic strands will have been knit along the opposite margins thereof, sometimes with the brown strands and sometimes with the yellow strands, and sometimes alone, as required. The result is that the elastic strands exert ten-- sion and pull on said margins to produce the out ward bunching or the embossed effect previously referred to.

From the foregoing description, it will be evident that in the finished fabric, the mock cable stitched effect is produced entirely by machine operations in the knitting of the fabric and rather accurately simulates genuine hand cable stitching. The decorated knitted fabric may, however, be produced expeditiously and inexpensively.

It will be understood that changes may be made in the details of operation and construction without departing from the spirit of the invention, as contemplated by the appended claims.

What is claimed as the invention is:

1. The method of producing a knit fabric which consists of knitting a body portion and during the progress thereof incorporating in said body portion mock spirally intertwining extents with floats of the body strands underlying the same, and during the knitting of said intertwining extents knitting into the opposite marginal portions thereof gathering strands in a manner so that the floats thereof intermingle with the floats of the body strands and tautly underlie said intertwining extents to cause outward protruding thereof.

2. The method of producing a machine knit fabric which consists of machine knitting a body portion and during the progress thereof incorporating in said body portion mock spirally intertwining cable-simulating extents of a contrasting color, and during the knitting of said extents knitting into the opposite marginal portions thereof tensioning strands in a manner so that the floats thereof tautly underlie said extents and exert inward pulls on the margins of said extents.

3. A knitted fabric, comprising a knit body por tion having incorporated therein mock intertwined spirally extending areas, strands of the body portion being floated under said spirally extending areas and strands of the latter being floated under stitches of the body portion, and elastic strands knit into opposite marginal portions of said spirally extending areas and being floated tautly under said spirally extending areas contiguous with and in the plane of said body strand floats.

4. A knitted fabric, comprising a knit body poi tion having incorporated therein mock intertwined spirally extending areas, body strand floats extending under the stitches of said spirally extending areas and floats of the latter extending under body portion stitches, and elastic strands knit into opposite marginal portions of said spirally extending areas and having floats extending transversely of said spirally extending areas under the stitches thereof and among the body strand floats.

EMERY F, WIRTZ.

REFERENCES CITED The following references are of record in the file of this patent:

UNITED STATES PATENTS Number Name Date 2,260,117 Marr Oct. 21, 1941 2,264,016 Bialostok Nov. 25, 1941 2,273,230 Smith Feb, 17, 1942 2,427,891 Wirtz Sept. 23, 1947 FOREIGN PATENTS Number Country Date 475,760 Great Britain Nov. 25, 1937 

